Horse manure

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David
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RE: Horse manure

Post by David »

Green manure is full of seeds. In fact some seeds such as the persimmon will not sprout in the wild unless its made a trip through a animal's digestive system. Not only are they not hurt but germination actually improves because the seed surface is made more permeable to water. Composting is really the only way I know to destroy weed seeds, and even then you will still have some survive. Store bought "composted" manure in my experience is full of weed seeds, and probably not really composted. Homemade compost is as good as it gets but labor intensive. The easy way is to put a couple of inches of mulch down, and apply a good lawn fertilizer. I don't use manure at all anymore.

One of the plants around here that really enjoys its digestive journey is Datura stramonium, or jimpson weed. Some around here call it loco weed. The plant is full of atropine/belladonna type substances that are quite toxic especially to small children. It gets to be about 3-5' tall, and has white and/or purple flowers, and has seed pods that look like prickly fruit. They have enough seeds in them to be fatal to several people if ingested. I got some juice in my left eye while weeding around the barn, and my pupil stayed dilated for 36 hrs! The poison control center said I was the 4th reported case of jimpson weed juice in the eyes. I was happy to hear that the other 3 survived. I had a patient many years ago that reportedly ate 7 of the very small seeds, and hallucinated for 3 days.

I don't use manure anymore.
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CadyG
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Like Kyuzo (pictured above) in "The Seven Samurai," I've "...Killed (more than) two..." bamboos.

RE: Horse manure

Post by CadyG »

I avoid horse manure due to the weed seeds it carries. Horses' digestive systems are not as efficient as that of ruminants such as cows. When a cow digests, it thoroughly ferments and processes what it eats, and weed seeds are pretty much obliterated. Horses, lacking the number of stomachs and "phases" a cow, pass a large amount of undigested material through.

If you want a nice "cold" manure that is clean of weed seeds, get sheep or goat poop. Or rabbit poop. All of these "pelleted" manures are weed-free and can be applied directly to gardens without first composting.

Because I keep fowl (chickens, ducks, geese, turkey), and fowl are prolific poopers, I have a plentiful supply of poultry manure mixed with the wood shavings and straw bedding. This must be composted first, but all it needs is a few months in the compost pile,with lots of happy earthworms, before I have usable, non-burning, weed seed-free manure compost.
Cady G.
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RE: Horse manure

Post by needmore »

Every year I put down around 50 cubic yards of fresh horse poo mixed with sawdust. Mine seems to mainly grow grass which I assume is weed seed from the hay fed to the horses, and I suspect that your horses are probably eating hay that has the yellow flowered plant mixed in. It is very easy to pull so I don't mind weeding it now & then but those flowered guys may be more of a pain.

Because of voles, I am no longer mulching my bamboo with it but am now using the horse mix to improve the soil of areas where I have not yet planted bamboo or areas that had the top soil scraped for creating level areas when the driveway, house, pond, garage etc were built here in hill country. I'm putting it down 6-8 inches deep and coaxing the bamboo to head that way. Now for the bamboo beds I've switched to some 3 year cow poo mixed with sand as it seems to be tougher for the voles to dig in as it collapses in on their tunnels.
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RE: Horse manure

Post by Jeff: Igor's Apprentice »

Could it be Ranunculus repens, "creeping buttercup"?

http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/crbutcup.htm

hmmm... "devil's guts"? :lol: never heard that one before. Maybe because its a UK site.

I hate, hate, HATE this plant. Could not get rid of it at my last house, which I recently sold.


Thanks, Cady, for the scoop on the poop. I'll have to keep my eyes open for sheep, goat or rabbit crap.


David, Wohh... I loved looking at the neighbors crop of Datura (not sure what type) but always hoped it wouldn't make it into my yard. I was tempted from time to time to stick a start but thought better of it. Love the fancier varieties of Datura and Brugmansia though too. Your patient probably read Carlos Castaneda. Juice in the eye.... I'll have to remember that one.
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RE: Horse manure

Post by kstanwick »

Sorry folks but i moved all the replies to the original thread to this one except for the original thread. Don't want to be jerk but i don't think we need any profanity in the topics. Hopefully no one minds i did this. but i think profanity should be kept out. It isn't that hard to do. If i could have i just would have renamed the topic but i couldn't.
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RE: Horse manure

Post by Bamboomoon »

I do apologize for using a profanity. I'm not personally offended by profanity, which can be useful at times. This particular profanity (substituted for the more proper word "manure"), succinctly carried my annoyance of having to spend too much time weeding. I'm certainly not bothered that it was removed; thank you for thinking better of my original subject title. Many, many thanks for the responses. I suspected that my use of horse manure, while free, wasn't really free in the end. Personally, I think any thread that manages to get Carlos Castenada mentioned, has some value. I really, really appreciate the information I've gleaned through use of this site, and do "get" that it makes sense to stay away from any topic or word which might be seen (by anyone), as controversial. My brother has a parrot that says "I'll be good". I will. And three cheers for goats, rabbits and sheep. I guess I'll have to keep weeding until the thoroughly composted soil (of whatever kind) takes over. Another parrot my brother has says "I didn't do it". I did, but I'll be good.
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RE: Horse manure

Post by Bamboomoon »

Hello Hoe_NC. Thanks for giving me the name Ranunculus Repens (common name "Creeping Buttercup"), which coincidentally, travels via rhizome, a lot like the bamboo it likes to grow beneath. You nailed it. It was so pretty I thought to call it an "understudy plant", but it's too voracious, and grows so tall it has slowed down the shooting season for the PNegra it grows beneath. Actually it might be useful in extremely hot, dry climate, for keeping the bamboo cool, provided you had ample supplies of water ...
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RE: Horse manure

Post by kstanwick »

Personally i wasn't offended but since this is a public forum and we have the ability to "weed" out members, posts etc. Well i figured to nip it in the butt before other people started cursing etc. No offense taken here. On a side note i have heard that goat manure is the worst for weed seeds. I know a guy who has them and he has a huge pile of manure but he said to me don't bother, you'll be weeding your garden forever trying to get all the weed seeds that come up from it....
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Like Kyuzo (pictured above) in "The Seven Samurai," I've "...Killed (more than) two..." bamboos.

RE: Horse manure

Post by CadyG »

Kurt.
I don't agree with your friend's remark about goat poop and weed seeds. Goats are very efficient ruminants. I suspect that it might be coincidence that the weed seeds are coming from another source in your friend's compost, such as being dropped into the compost heap by scavenging birds who, in turn, leave their own droppings in the pile. Or, possibly the goats were eating plants with seeds that have an unusually hard and durable shell.

I stand by my claim that sheep, goats and rabbits (and I'll add guinea pigs and deer to the listing) poop the perfect garden poop. :)

Horses and camelids (llamas, alpacas) are less efficient and more prone to passing undigested seeds, but their manure is still excellent if it is well composted. The fermenting compost must get hot enough to kill the seeds, but a well prepared compost heap will do that easily.
Cady G.
"Killed two..." -- Seiji Miyaguchi/Kyuzo
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RE: Horse manure

Post by BooKing »

Elephant "dung" :lol: is also a very viable manure to use. When Ringling Bros. is in town, people line up for elephant poop. :lol: :lol:
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RE: Horse manure

Post by Mike McG »

I have found 100 % fresh or composted horse manure to be an excellent source of potting soil for new transplants or as a winter mulch. What seeds are in the horse manure will depend on what the horse has been eating or what is growing where you pick it up. Horses tend to be picky and eat around many weeds. I mainly gather horse manure when we have our horses in the barn area and weed seeds at that time do not appear to be a problem. Sometimes oats and other seeds that are in their winter feed supplement will germinate but these are minor to pull out compared to the Bermuda grass we have where the bamboo is planted. The fact that seeds will germinate and grow in fresh horse manure to me is a good indicator that you do not have to worry about it burning most plants. Since there are a lot more cattle on our property than horses, I have a lot more of that manure but prefer to collect only the horse manure. It is a lot easier to handle wet or dry.

I guess if you are in an urban environment and are concerned about potentially importing weed seeds you should avoid all manure unless it has been properly composted or comes from a feed lot, but in my experience this is about the best thing for your bamboo.

Mike near Brenham TX
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RE: Horse manure

Post by kstanwick »

Good point Mike...you poop what you eat....anyway all i do know is the pile of manure by that guy's house...he has quite a bit of property...was loaded with weeds...maybe his goats are eating some type of food that has alot in it....I guess if your goat eats "goat chow" then there probably is no weed seed in it...it's my personal experience...but i guess now that it varies.
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RE: Horse manure

Post by David »

Rabbits are manure making magicians. Conveniently pelletized, fully composted, no weed seeds, never burns, and low odor :!: I used it happily for years until the rescued Easter rabbit finally succumbed at the ripe old age of eight. :(
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RE: Horse manure

Post by Jeff: Igor's Apprentice »

Incidentally, my neighbor with the Datura had 2 horses and they always kept everything very short except the Datura. When I first moved in I told my neighbor that the plants were poisonous out of concern for the horses. She was surprised to learn that but she said that they always ate around them, which they did. But that doesn't mean they couldn't have picked up a seed here and there- now that I think about it, no wonder they were loopy.

BambooMoon, they do sell that stuff at some nurseries. I about vomit every time I see it for sale.
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RE: Horse manure

Post by David »

With a common name like loco weed one would tend to think that some unsuspecting horse, cow, or cowboy made an unpleasant discovery. :lol:
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